Recently, I picked up a book from SciFi author Alfred Bester that made me aware of particular run of what were being termed ‘SciFi Masterworks.’ I did a quick Google search, and – after reviewing the lists of titles and authors that were part of the series – I realized that there were quite a few of them I had either never read or never even heard of. (I’ve mentioned before that I’m not what you would classify as a ‘long-time’ reader; I started reading fairly voraciously about twenty years ago, and I have a pretty long bucket list of titles to get through.) I decided it was time that I make my way through a few of these and/or a few others that had been recommended via other sites, so A.E. Van Vogt’s THE VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE is the next one up in my adventures.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last two paragraphs for my final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the product packaging: “An all-time classic space saga, THE VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE is one of the pinnacles of golden age SF, an influence on generations of stories. An episodic novel filled with surprises and provocative ideas, this is the story of a great exploration ship sent out into the unknown reaches of space on a long mission of discovery.”
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last two paragraphs for my final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the product packaging: “An all-time classic space saga, THE VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE is one of the pinnacles of golden age SF, an influence on generations of stories. An episodic novel filled with surprises and provocative ideas, this is the story of a great exploration ship sent out into the unknown reaches of space on a long mission of discovery.”
The release I have does site a bit more on the back cover, but methinks you get enough from the above synopsis for me to cover what I’d like to about SPACE BEAGLE. Basically, what you have here is a series of mostly ship-based adventures, one could say something even in the same vein as TV’s wildly popular franchise, STAR TREK, but written in the 1950’s before the Gene Roddenberry property. From what I’ve researched about the tome, it was originally a series of short stories penned by Van Vogt that eventually were linked together by some supporting material and released in a single collection. I can say that knowing this simple fact does alleviate some of the abruptness of ending one chapter before starting the next, so consider yourself properly prepared.
That said, SPACE BEAGLE differs from STAR TREK fairly significantly in tone; instead of having a grandly adventurous and morally-schooled command staff in charge of the ship, what Van Vogt envisions here is a more Democratic process – there’s a captain, but many of the vessel’s decisions are made by consensus of the travelers. They’ll get together, debate an issue, and – yes, that’s right – vote on what course of action is best. As the crew contingent is made up almost exclusively of scientists, this can make for some curious back-and-forth that – while resembling comedy – methinks Van Vogt intended as more tongue-in-cheek satire. (I could be wrong there, but from what reading I’ve done I haven’t come across anything ‘scholarly’ that would make me conclude otherwise.)
So instead of having the grand cowboy (i.e. Capt. Kirk) at the helm, you have pretty much the pushover of an executive officer who essentially allows this population to engage in all sorts of political and/or politicizing shenanigans one might expect more so from a high school student council than you would a legitimate governing body. There’s a fair amount of backstabbing that takes place amongst the figureheads of the larger science-based departments, and it does make for a vastly different dynamic than what one probably expects from the world of space opera these days.
As all stories do require some central protagonist, SPACE BEAGLE has one: Elliott Grosvenor is the ship’s sole Nexalist, an expert representing an all-new science known as Nexialism which (as best as I can describe it) is a discipline that combines the thinking and strategies of all known specialties in order to achieve the best plausible solution for any particular problem. Whereas a biologist may recommend dissecting a specimen of a newly-discovered species so that mankind could best learn more about it, by contrast a Nexialist might better suggest allowing it to roam free in order for its demonstrated behaviors to teach us just how to deal with it. Naturally, this makes for an interesting counterpoint … except when you have to allow the creature to roam your ship at its own pleasure while dining on your shipmates!
That said, SPACE BEAGLE differs from STAR TREK fairly significantly in tone; instead of having a grandly adventurous and morally-schooled command staff in charge of the ship, what Van Vogt envisions here is a more Democratic process – there’s a captain, but many of the vessel’s decisions are made by consensus of the travelers. They’ll get together, debate an issue, and – yes, that’s right – vote on what course of action is best. As the crew contingent is made up almost exclusively of scientists, this can make for some curious back-and-forth that – while resembling comedy – methinks Van Vogt intended as more tongue-in-cheek satire. (I could be wrong there, but from what reading I’ve done I haven’t come across anything ‘scholarly’ that would make me conclude otherwise.)
So instead of having the grand cowboy (i.e. Capt. Kirk) at the helm, you have pretty much the pushover of an executive officer who essentially allows this population to engage in all sorts of political and/or politicizing shenanigans one might expect more so from a high school student council than you would a legitimate governing body. There’s a fair amount of backstabbing that takes place amongst the figureheads of the larger science-based departments, and it does make for a vastly different dynamic than what one probably expects from the world of space opera these days.
As all stories do require some central protagonist, SPACE BEAGLE has one: Elliott Grosvenor is the ship’s sole Nexalist, an expert representing an all-new science known as Nexialism which (as best as I can describe it) is a discipline that combines the thinking and strategies of all known specialties in order to achieve the best plausible solution for any particular problem. Whereas a biologist may recommend dissecting a specimen of a newly-discovered species so that mankind could best learn more about it, by contrast a Nexialist might better suggest allowing it to roam free in order for its demonstrated behaviors to teach us just how to deal with it. Naturally, this makes for an interesting counterpoint … except when you have to allow the creature to roam your ship at its own pleasure while dining on your shipmates!
Therein lie the element of satire I believe Van Vogt intended. As much as he pokes some obvious fun at specific modes of study or entire doctrines of science, he positions Grosvenor in situation after situation that requires a heavy amount of political play in order for him to achieve any measure of success. Instead of playing the specialist as a ‘know-it-all,’ it’s very clear that others simply perceive him that way, and he’s only intending to do what he perceives is best for the ship and its survival. Granted, not all of it may make perfect sense for a fast read, but I thought the author mostly intended to send up scientists who were firmly entrenched in their particular field of study as being the unintentional ‘curse’ of mankind while also showing that the shortcomings of personal bias are just as deadly for the educated as they are for the more common man.
It’s a terrific experience, though I found the first half of the novel a bit of a ‘slog’ only because it wasn’t as interesting as the latter half. Perhaps that’s because the stakes were raised as the greater adventures came into play, or perhaps that’s even because the more Van Vogt toyed with these ideas he got closer and closer to perfection with subsequent tales as opposed to the first few. Whatever the truth may be, SPACE BEAGLE is clearly worth the time and effort; occasionally meaty because of narrative shifts of view, it’s a much more honest look at what Earth’s collective march to the stars might inevitably look like.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I have no problem whatsoever admitted that THE VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE probably wouldn’t have meant all that much to me when I was much younger because I tend to think a lot of what’s meaningful in there needs a fair amount of maturity to be fully appreciated. Some of the moments play out like soft satire, and methinks a younger mind might’ve missed the point. However, this old dog enjoyed it more and more as the stories wore on, and – by the end – it’s easy to see why some folks consider this one of the better SciFi novels written from a certain era.
It’s a terrific experience, though I found the first half of the novel a bit of a ‘slog’ only because it wasn’t as interesting as the latter half. Perhaps that’s because the stakes were raised as the greater adventures came into play, or perhaps that’s even because the more Van Vogt toyed with these ideas he got closer and closer to perfection with subsequent tales as opposed to the first few. Whatever the truth may be, SPACE BEAGLE is clearly worth the time and effort; occasionally meaty because of narrative shifts of view, it’s a much more honest look at what Earth’s collective march to the stars might inevitably look like.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I have no problem whatsoever admitted that THE VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE probably wouldn’t have meant all that much to me when I was much younger because I tend to think a lot of what’s meaningful in there needs a fair amount of maturity to be fully appreciated. Some of the moments play out like soft satire, and methinks a younger mind might’ve missed the point. However, this old dog enjoyed it more and more as the stories wore on, and – by the end – it’s easy to see why some folks consider this one of the better SciFi novels written from a certain era.
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